A graphic code, such as a 2-dimensional code or barcode, is a new generation encoding technology for recording data symbol information using black-and-white rectangular matrices which are specific geometric graphics regularly distributed on a 2-dimensional surface according to a certain pattern. The graphic code can encode information, such as a website, text, and photos, as a block-shaped barcode picture through a corresponding encoding algorithm. A user can use an image input device or a photoelectric scanning device to decode the information and check corresponding content. A graphic code has characteristics of high information volume, good error correction ability, high reading speed, and comprehensive reading, etc.
A mobile-phone graphic code is an application of the graphics encoding technology in mobile phones. The mobile-phone graphic code corresponds to encoding information which is needed to be accessed and used by a mobile phone into a graphic code, and reading thereof using a camera and a decoding software of the mobile phone. A mobile-phone graphic code may be printed on various forms of printed media such as newspapers, magazines, advertisements, books, packages, business cards, etc. The user can quickly connect to the Internet using the mobile phone by scanning the graphic code with the mobile camera. A process thereof is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, a publisher encodes a piece of website information (e.g., a URL) into a graphic code. A mobile phone client 102 first scans the graphic code using a camera thereof, and recognizes the website information in the graphic code 104 using a decoding software. The mobile phone client then invokes a mobile browser to open and access the website 106 via a server 108, thus achieving a quick connection to the Internet.
This method of network accessing through a graphic code can help a user to quickly and effectively browse web pages, download pictures, texts, music, videos, obtain coupons, participate lottery draws, and understand product information of companies, etc, thus eliminating a process of inputting a URL in a mobile phone and achieving an “one-click” Internet access.
However, in practical applications, a publisher has a specific purpose when publishing a graphic code on a selected medium. For example, a product seller prints a graphic code of a particular product on newspapers or magazines with a purpose that users can log in an associated website to purchase the product after viewing thereof. If a certain user desires to make a purchase, he/she needs to scan the graphic code and recognize a website URL using a mobile phone, access the URL by a mobile phone browser, and click buttons of “Add to Shopping Cart” and “Proceed to Checkout” on opened web page(s) to complete online shopping operations. If the user wants to purchase multiple products via mobile-phone graphic codes, he/she needs to repeatedly perform these operations, which are very tedious.
In short, the existing method of network access through a graphic code basically presents website content which directly corresponds to a website URL in the graphic code to a user, and fails to fully realize the publisher's true intention for publishing the graphic code. If the user has any additional needs, additional manual operations are required, which are time consuming.